The next two days they traveled with no sign of Jade. At midday, as they approached one of the hidden back entrances to Balasaam, Helen could tell the yetis were getting excited and she was a little excited herself at the thought of being back at the Sanctuary with Danny again.

Nikola, on the other hand, became quieter. He had been sitting up nights and catnapping during the day. He was afraid if he slept at night when Jade was more active and could sneak in closer to camp, he would be vulnerable to her taking him over and controlling him.

But when they reached the entrance to Balasaam, they found it had been badly damaged long ago.

Nikola explained, "It looks like we can at least get in, I was afraid it might have been completely blocked and we would have a long trip to the next entrance."

Helen examined the hole in the side of a cliff that was almost full of debris. "What happened here? This looks like it could have been caused by an explosion."

"When Balasaam was attacked by a consortium of human nations, this entrance was discovered and used by the Russians, at least so I've read. Apparently their puny attempt at a sneak assault went wrong for them, and they blew it on the way out to try to trap all the vampires within. They were trying to commit genocide, you know."

"Yes, I know, Nikola. Apparently they weren't entirely successful since it appears there's a path of sorts up the mound of debris and enough space at the top to get through."

"Yeah, my ancestors didn't go easily, they fought all the way, and it wasn't too hard for them to shift a few boulders with their superior strength and reopen this as an escape hatch. Unfortunately, the Russians laid an ambush for them up this gorge. According to the records, a few vampires managed to escape this way but most were killed by deliberate rockslides and massed weaponry."

"Can we get the controller through there?"

"Sure, I can carry it through; it's not too heavy, just bulky."

"How far is it from here to the gate, do you know?"

"I never got this far in my explorations, so I'm not positive, but I would estimate a one to two day walk if we don't run into anything unusual."

Helen went over to where Masra was conversing with Koden and Tanka, who were both preparing backpacks for themselves.

"Masra? Obviously the wagons cannot take us any further, so I wanted to thank you for your assistance, and please extend my gratitude to Dge-Bzang Ras-Pa as well. Are the backpacks in our wagon for us to take with us?"

Masra said, "Yes, certainly. Please pack whatever supplies you wish. Is your companion safe to travel with? He has not fed in some days."

"Nikola will be fine, an erratic feeding schedule isn't anything new for him. Will you and your party be alright until you reach a more civilized area?"

"We will be fine, this is our land too, and we are familiar with it. I worry about the snake and our missing companions, but we will be on the watch now and we can now identify which of us have been affected by the venom. We will travel quickly."

Helen returned to the wagon and found Nikola busy packing a knapsack for himself. She packed mostly food and medical supplies, along with lightweight rope that she hoped would not be needed. With only one good arm, climbing would be difficult and dangerous.

They had one last meal with the monks before they parted ways. Afterward Nikola motioned her over to the mound of rubble and pointed at some rocks. In most of the area the rocks appeared to have been in place for many years, but as he pointed she noticed a few that looked like they had been recently disturbed, turned or moved from where they had been embedded in the dirt.

"Jade?" she asked quietly.

"I would think so, no one lives within fifty miles of this place and there's nothing else around here to attract anyone."

"I'd best see we have a good supply of torches." Helen went to finish her packing, and gather a few more stones for ammunition, just in case.

When all was ready, the yetis hung back and waited for Helen and Nikola to lead. Carrying the controller, Nikola wouldn't be able to respond quickly to an attack, so he reluctantly kept his mouth shut when Helen said, "Right," and carefully went first up the pile of rubble.

There was about a meter's clearance between the rubble and the roof of the cave. She ducked through and half walked and half slid down the far side. Nikola came next with the controller, and then the yetis. At the bottom they all stopped to light torches and look around.

There wasn't much to see except some internal damage from the long-ago explosion. Neither Nikola nor Helen could easily carry a torch, so it was up to the yetis to provide the light. Helen gestured Koden to walk in front with her, and Tanka came up the rear, both carrying lit torches.

There was rubble they had to step carefully through near the entrance, and a couple of small empty rooms. But as they moved further from the site of the damage, walking became quite easy. The floor was smooth, the tunnel was at least three meters wide and nearly as high, and there was nothing else, no rooms and no side tunnels for the first hour of walking.

Then they reached a cross tunnel. There were markings on the wall in vampiric hieroglyphics, and Helen stopped to read them.

"Queen's court to the left, king's court to the right, and straight ahead . . . non-personal space? Any idea if your gate is in the queen's or king's area?"

"Not a clue, unfortunately, but probably neither, it's farther on. Most of the areas down here aren't labelled, but there are very likely connecting corridors anyway."

"Straight ahead it is, then."

But twenty minutes later they stopped, faced with a complete blockage of the corridor. They turned around and went back to the intersection.

"Anyone have any preferences in direction?"

Tanka said softly, "Yes, please. That way, what you called the queen's court, it smells of people and snake. May we go the other way?"

Helen smiled appreciatively at Tanka's contribution. "Absolutely. And whenever you smell those people or snake scents please tell us so we can avoid them."

Tanka nodded and gave the equivalent of a yeti smile back, and they turned up the corridor marked king's court and continued their walk. They began passing more rooms and branching corridors, but since Nikola didn't recognize any of it, Helen kept choosing their direction mostly at random.

Eventually he said, "Bear left, I think. We're in an outer area here, and we need to cross the center space to get closer to the valley where the city was located and the area where your father set up the tests."

They trudged on for several hours until Helen called a halt. They moved into a room to eat and rest. After she and the yetis had eaten, she noticed Nikola seemed preoccupied and went over and sat next to him.

"How much farther do you think it is to the gate?" she asked.

"I don't know, a few hours maybe. Helen, I think Jade is close." Nikola looked a little embarrassed. "I'm afraid she might have gotten a thought from me about the yetis, and she knows they can scent her presence. Sorry."

She nodded her acceptance; it was done, nothing could change it. "Can you communicate with her?"

"Maybe, but I don't think she's close enough for anything complicated."

"Would she meet with us?"

"You want to come face to face with her and her servants?"

"I think we need to, Nikola. If Jade would be willing to give up killing people and enslaving them . . ."

"Very unlikely."

"I need to talk to her."

"But not in here where we would be trapped; that open area we just passed?"

"That would do."

Nikola sat silently for a few minutes, and Helen could see he was concentrating. Then he said, "Okay, she's coming."

The four of them left their belongings and the controller in the room, Helen just taking her sling and ammunition and the yetis carrying torches. They went out into a nearby large cavern and waited. After a few minutes, Jade and her servants emerged from a dark side tunnel.

Nikola vamped and hung back; he did not want to get close unless he had to. In the light, he could see one of the servants had a second much smaller gray snake looped loosely around his neck, and a third gray snake was partly on Jade and partly on another servant. This one was much larger than any he had seen before besides Jade herself, being nearly a quarter of her prodigious length.

The servant that carried Jade's head moved a step forward and said, "I speak for Jade. What do you wish to say to her?"

Helen said, "Jade, I understand you want to come to the Sanctuary. This may be possible under certain conditions."

Jade raised her head slightly, obviously interested. "What are your conditions?" the servant asked.

"First, you may not attack or kill anyone or anything. Animal blood can be provided for you."

"No, I and my servants need human blood. Animal blood tastes bad."

"Willing donors can provide blood if necessary."

"It has to be fresh and warm. We could drink from them?"

"No, not directly. They would donate the blood, it would be preserved and reheated for your consumption."

Jade looked intently at Nikola. Her servant said, "Not as good. This one knows. What else?"

"You must free your servants to live their own lives and never make any more."

"No! Then I must crawl on my belly on the ground and cannot speak! I need my slaves, I need many more slaves, and they are happy to serve me." The three monks carrying her gave fake smiles and all nodded in unison.

"That is the only way you would be allowed to live at the Sanctuary, Jade," Helen said. "There is another large serpent there, a male, also intelligent. But he would not want to associate with anyone who kills and enslaves people."

Jade's servant said nothing for a few moments, while she stared again at Nikola. "Tesla says this is true, but the serpent is not exactly like me, only similar. Still . . . but I could not give up my servants, and there is no reason not to take whatever blood I choose. I am Jade, I am strong, stronger than mere humans. I will be their queen, it's only right."

Nikola suddenly lunged forward and pulled Helen back from where she had stepped ahead to speak to Jade. A split second later the middle-sized snake struck at where she had been, but missed Helen by a wide margin. It continued on down to the floor and slithered forward aggressively.

Koden swung his torch at it, and it quickly swerved aside and back to Jade and her servants, who were retreating into the darkness. Nikola and Helen got the yetis moving to the room that held their belongings, gathered everything up and moved at a trot down the corridor away from the meeting cavern.

As they went, Helen asked, "Nikola, once the gate is up and tuned, can you bring the controller with us so it can't be used from this side?"

"It's bulky, if we have to move fast or I need my hands free I'd rather just rip out a couple of key components. Once we're back home I can send a magnetic pulse and set off the alarm system which should call the cavalry and we can use a real controller to come back to take care of Jade and her buddies."

Helen just nodded, saving her breath for traveling. But the yetis were breathing heavily and slowing down. They weren't built for speed. The group slowed so they could stay together.

Nikola said, "I know where we are, I recognize this place. Turn right up ahead."

They moved at a fast walk, the vampire directing their path. Tanka said, "Oh, I smell that people and snake smell again, from ahead."

Helen asked Nikola, "Can we go around?"

"No, we're close, and I don't think she'll attack until we've opened the gate. Wait." Nikola stopped and the rest stopped too.

"Koden, Tanka, this is very important," he said. "Do not go through the gate when we turn it on; not until Helen or I tell you to. No matter what is happening, wait for our signal. Do you understand?"

Both yetis looked confused, but nodded. Helen and Nikola exchanged a look. They moved forward and Helen recognized where they were too, and then they arrived at the gate.

Tanka whimpered a little. "I smell them," she said very softly. Helen had her sling ready. Nikola put down the cot with the controller on it and said, "Wolf boy didn't rewire. I'll have to hook it up to the geomagnetic power."

He unrolled the extra wire, carefully took it down a corridor and hooked it up. Then he came back and engaged the electrical step down function on the controller. He looked at Helen who nodded.

Nikola flipped the switch on the controller, and the gate turned on.